"I seem to be always searching for something to lose myself in completely: it's like we say in seminary—Beyond Measure.""I seem to be always searching for something to lose myself in completely: it's like we say in seminary—Beyond Measure."...more
"Change that lasted was often a slow, but steady thing, a constant push forward.""Change that lasted was often a slow, but steady thing, a constant push forward."...more
"If my existence starts hurting anyone but myself, then maybe I don't deserve to exist at all.""If my existence starts hurting anyone but myself, then maybe I don't deserve to exist at all."...more
"Loss is a strange thing, they take a part of you with them. A big part.""Loss is a strange thing, they take a part of you with them. A big part."...more
Didn't love the way this book was set up, and it was hard to keep up with. I know formatting isn't necessarily something that can be controlled in an Didn't love the way this book was set up, and it was hard to keep up with. I know formatting isn't necessarily something that can be controlled in an electronic format, but it really affected the way I went about reading this book.
I'm looking forward to trying again when the book comes out as I liked the authors writing style, but at the moment I think this is something I wouldn't pick up to read on my own time without incentive.
Thank you, netgalley, for an e-book version of this book!!...more
"Even if he never goes back to the way he used to be, he might still be all right."
As a forever baseball fan, and a long-time reader, I must say I fee"Even if he never goes back to the way he used to be, he might still be all right."
As a forever baseball fan, and a long-time reader, I must say I feel like this book was written just for me. I've entered a time in my reading life where I have no expectations and simply hope for the best, and in those times, I find little gems like these. I'm so grateful to netgalley for letting me read a copy so I could say such nice things about it.
Let's start with how I felt it in my soul when Cat Sebastian described the sound of a good hit. The echo, the anticipation, the slow motion cheer in a crowd. There is nothing quite like entering a ball field and knowing that for the next several hours you get to sit with hundreds of people that feel the same way you do. Hundreds of people waiting for the sound of that bat and ball connecting in the absolute perfect way. Sebastian describes the game as glacial, and for the firs time I truly understood why people call baseball boring and slow. Because it isn't glacial in the sense that you can't see the bottom or experience the best at the top. It's the appreciation of every moment in between the very first pitch and the very last out. Everything in between is just as important as each step before and after. It's the perfect game, the one that makes patience feel almost fun.
And it wasn't just the praise for baseball that sucked me in, but the couple, whom I found bafflingly unlikely to have ever been together without a spark. Mark is sad, and grief-stricken, and has been in a writing slump for months. Eddie is just in a slump, but you wouldn't know that based on his attitude when he's around Mark. Think golden retriever and black cat and you'll almost have them pegged for their compatibility.
But they bring out the best in each other simply because they both have a very important lesson to learn.
Time changes you, and it's meant to. And maybe who you become doesn't have to mean you're leaving a loved one behind, but instead, that you're lucky enough to love someone so much on two separate occasions. Maybe who you become can be alright as well. Maybe moving on isn't so much moving on as it is keeping the things that make you great, and allowing more to come into your life so you can be better.
Failure is inevitable, and it's what you make of it that shows who you are. Baseball is the perfect place to find that simply because failure is built into the game. You're meant to do the impossible, train for the impossible, and sometimes slumps need to be celebrated as much as our highs. Sometimes we just need something to cheer for.
"Two men clink their mostly empty glasses, toasting bad luck. Toasting the fact that bad luck is both inevitable and impermanent. Even terrible things come to an end." ...more
Loading...
